When I was a kid, my parents took in my paternal grandmother and my maternal grandfather to live with us when their spouses died. My mother and father taught me a number of things from what family might look like as well as what care looks like.

Recently I heard a sermon from FUMC Hurst, and one of the lines in it struck home for me in how I understand my parents motivation for taking in my grandparents. My mother and father did not want anyone taking care of their parents. It is not that that my parents did not love their parents, rather it is that they did not find (at the time) a place that would care for their parents. The places they found were equipped to take care of my grandparents, but not care for them.

As I listen to our culture, we are really good at taking care of people. We feed the hungry rather well, but we are not good at addressing the root causes of hunger. We take care of the hungry, but we are not really caring for them. We are really good at taking care of kids and getting them to become expert test takers, but caring for their overall development is something we are not very good at. We take care of our physical selves but do not care for spirits.

Perhaps in a culture in which basic altruism and the profit sector can take care of people the Church can begin to take up the slack and care for people. What would it look like if the Church pushed to reconsider the way in which the food subsidies program works in the USA? What if the Church worked to be a voice in the holistic development of children so schools allowed spiritual development as well as football development?

What would it look like if we, the Church of Jesus Christ, began to take seriously the call to care for people in a culture that believes taking care of people is good enough?.